


The Bâ to My Ka

by songcry



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Teachers, Ancient Egyptian Literature & Mythology, Egyptology, Fluff, M/M, Monsta X Bingo, Museums, Spirit Doubles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-11
Updated: 2017-02-11
Packaged: 2018-09-23 14:43:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9661886
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/songcry/pseuds/songcry
Summary: Lee Jooheon falls in love at the museum, surrounded by mummies and cursed amulets.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the doppelgänger/twins square as part of the [Monsta X Bingo.](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/MXbingo)
> 
> I'm actually the worst at bingo challenges because I always try to twist the prompt as much as I possibly can get away with lmao. Also, the museum is loosely based off the National Museum of Korea but since I've never been there I just made most of it up.

Heat radiates off the concrete parking lot outside the museum and Jooheon’s t-shirt is sticking to his back after the long ride in the stuffy charter bus. He uses the attendance sheet in his hands as a fan and tries to keep an eye on all his kids amongst the hundreds of tourists and history enthusiast milling about the grounds. Jooheon is eager to get inside the air-conditioned building.

“Alright, is everyone here?” Choi seonsaengnim asks. The first grade class is lined up neatly in front of the museum doors and a chorus of affirmative replies comes from the group of seven-year olds. They’re all shuffling in place, whispering excitedly to each other. While they’re all distracted Jooheon does a quick headcount to confirm that no one is missing.

Jooheon gives Choi seonsaengnim the all clear and she begins with her instructions. “Okay, kids, grab a partner and make two lines. Once we get inside the museum guide will give each of you a sticker to put on your uniforms. It’s important that you leave these on during the whole tour, understood?”

The children nod, willing to get inside and to learn. Or to see dinosaur bones, but that’s educational too. This is the first fieldtrip Jooheon has been a part of since he started working as the class’ teacher’s aide and he’s just as hyped as the kids are. The group is just about to head inside when Jooheon feels someone tug at the hem of his shirt.

“Yes, Hyejin?”

The young girl frowns and says, “I don’t want to see dead people.”

“We’re not going to see any dead people, promise. You came here to learn about habitats and ecosystems, remember?” Jooheon prompts with a smile. Hyejin doesn’t seem entirely convinced but she allows Jooheon to lead her inside with the rest of the class.

The museum entrance hall is grandiose and filled with people. Banners hang from the upper floor banisters advertising current and upcoming exhibits, most showcasing artifacts detailing South Korea’s rich history. _Ritual Porcelains of Joseon Dynasty_ and _Discoveries from the Sinan Shipwreck_ , but also _Treasures from Afghanistan_ and _Ancient Egypt: Concept of The Soul;_ it's all here. 

Choi seonsaengnim leaves Jooheon with the kids as she ventures to find their guide by the front desk. They wait patiently in the middle of the hall by a large, iron Buddha statue borrowed from the Buddhist Sculpture room, according to the plaque.

“I know who this is,” Taeho boasts proudly, gesturing to the statue of Buddha.

“Me too,” Suji says, “my mom has one of these statues at home.”

Jooheon chuckles, about to tell Suji that this particular sculpture is a little older than the one her mother has in her living room when he spots a man wearing the museum uniform walking toward them.

It’s not a uniform per se, but a simple black polo that reads the National Museum of Korea across the front. And damn does this guy look good in it.

“Hey,” Jooheon calls as the man is about to pass them. He is their tour guide, right?

The man stops and looks over at Jooheon and his large assembly of first graders, obviously confused. “Can I help you?” he questions, unsure. His voice is deep, deeper than Jooheon had anticipated and he may or may not have fallen in love with him a tiny bit already.

“Uh,” Jooheon poses eloquently, not being able to tear his eyes away from the cute museum employee. Said cute employee’s brows furrow slightly the longer Jooheon stares at him.

Heels clicking against the marble floor indicates Choi seonsaengnim’s return and the revelation that Jooheon has made a terrible mistake. The (actual) museum guide next to Choi seonsaengnim begins to distribute the before mentioned stickers to the kids, then noticing her coworker awkwardly standing around by an equally awkward Jooheon.

“Changkyun-ah,” she says, “I thought you were working at the Egypt exhibition?”

Changkyun gives her a brief nod. “I was on my way over,” he explains, quickly glancing over at Jooheon, who childishly ducks his head to avoid making eye contact. He pretends to be busy helping Hyejin attach her sticker properly.

“I’ll— I’ll get going, then,” Changkyun mumbles before retreating.

Jooheon watches him leave, not subtly either, and mentally kicks himself for being a total idiot. He was wrong to assume that the guy was their tour guide, calling him out like that. It had obviously made the other uncomfortable. He sighs, miserable, forever doomed to make a fool of himself in front of cute guys.

“What’s wrong seonsaengnim?” Hyejin asks him softly. Jooheon waves her off, telling her that he’s just jealous that they get these cool stickers and he doesn’t. That makes the girl smile smugly, letting him know that it’s because they’re special guests today.

 

Their tour guide, introduced as Sojung, takes them to the park exhibition on the main floor, talking animatedly about the flora and fauna that makes up Korea’s indigenous ecosystem. Jooheon almost slips into at least half of the gallery’s manmade waterfalls and pools, mind somewhere else entirely. How is he supposed to focus on plants when he’s still got the museum employee’s voice ringing in his ears?

In the blink of an eye it’s lunch time, and the class gathers in one of the outside courtyards filled with sunlight and benches. The kids scramble to get their pre-packed lunchboxes out of their backpacks. Jooheon is stuck with leftovers from last night, _dak galbi_ and some sad cherry tomatoes he found at the very back of his fridge. They roll around in his Tupperware, away from the grasp of his metal chopsticks.

He shovels some noodles into his mouth and sees someone familiar through the glass wall lining the courtyard opposite him. It’s the cute museum employee, walking briskly through the parallel corridor. Jooheon watches as he runs a hand coolly through his light locks, face concentrated and serious, making Jooheon’s heart flutter like in the dramas he doesn’t watch but his friend Kihyun does.

The chopsticks never leave his lips and the museum guide observes him, slightly concerned, as he sits there on the bench frozen with hearts in his eyes. Even the children seated around him begin to call his name to bring him out of his daydream and back to reality.

“Seonsaengnim, are you listening to my story?” One of the girls, Suji, asks. Jooheon has, in fact, not been listening but he can’t say that to her.

“Yes, you were talking about your new puppy?” he falters.

“It’s a kitten,” Suji corrects him. Her pigtails bob as she slouches in her seat, disappointed that her teacher has been ignoring her very exciting tale.

Sojung laughs at him good-naturedly, the sound barely contained behind her hand. Despite himself Jooheon blushes and shakes his head, not about to let it get to him. Jooheon turns to apologize to the sulking kid instead, begging for forgiveness.

After they’ve all finished their lunches and cleaned up Choi seonsaengnim announces that next they’ll be split into groups, free to explore whatever exhibitions they want together with a chaperone. Choi seonsaengnim heads off to the Scultpure and Crafts exhibitions on the third floor, Sojung will remain on the ground level, and Jooheon is granted permission to take some kids out to the Special Exhibitions hall.

“Ready to go?” Jooheon asks his band of youngsters as they leave the courtyard. A resounding “yes!” and they follow the overhead signs to the Special Exhibitions hall.

Hyejin has a tight grip on his hand the entire time, swinging it back and forth as they walk. Jooheon smiles, reminded of how much he loves these kids. It’s an honor to be a part of their early education, hopefully making it enjoyable and encouraging them along the way to pursue their dreams in the future. That this class has taken such a liking to him makes Jooheon extremely grateful.

Taeho and Chansung have walked ahead of the others and stop before the entrance to the _Ancient Egypt: Concept of The Soul_ exhibit. Jooheon remembers seeing the banner advertising the collection when they had first arrived. Ancient Egyptian artifacts sound more interesting than pottery from the Neolithic era, or whatever the other group will find on the third floor. However, Hyejin didn’t seem to share Jooheon’s optimism.

She tugs at his hand to bring Jooheon to a halt. “You promised we wouldn’t look at dead people,” she says, unamused.

“I don’t think there will be actual mummies in there,” Jooheon reassures her.

“I hope there are!” Taeho exclaims, Chansung quickly agreeing with his classmate. Jooheon shoots Taeho a look asking him to be quiet and the kid grins sheepishly in return.

“Well,” Jooheon says, “we’ll never know if we don’t go in. Remember to behave and don’t touch anything.” The teacher’s aide puts great emphasis on the last phrase and the children nod obediently.

The hall opens up to a spacious room with high ceilings, lots of light, and lots of visitors. Smaller pieces of the collection are scattered along the walls and encased in glass. Engraved stone pillars, animal statues, and decorated sarcophagi are the exhibit’s main attractions and receive the spotlight in the center of the space. The kids all ooh and aah as they enter and Jooheon shares their fascination; it was as if they had been transported back thousands of years, to another place in another time.

Over by a statue of some kind, talking to another museum worker, is his attractive museum employee-guy. Jooheon can feel his pulse quicken as he recalls hearing the man say that he works at the Egypt exhibition. This exhibition.

“Don’t forget what I told you before,” Jooheon says speedily and then ushers the kids off into the exhibition. Jooheon runs a hand through his hair and straightens his t-shirt in an attempt to make himself look somewhat presentable.

He takes a deep breath and heads over to the museum employee, dodging groups of tourists and families equipped with cameras. The closer Jooheon gets to the other man, the more he starts to question himself. Just when Jooheon has decided that, you know what, this is not the right time to confront any possible objects of affection, the man notices him.

“Hello again,” he says. “What happened to your army of kids?”

Jooheon chuckles, trying to pull off an image of nonchalance even though he’s actually freaking out. “Oh, they’re around here… somewhere.” 

The guy raises his eyebrows at that, probably wondering how Jooheon can be such a shit teacher that he goes around losing his kids. Before Jooheon has a chance to redeem himself, the employee taps at his nametag.

“Changkyun,” he offers, and Jooheon blinks, not realizing until a beat later that the cute stranger is telling him his name.

“You work here as a guide, Changkyun?” he asks, testing the name on his tongue and finding that he likes it. A lot.

“I’m actually not a guide,” he says quietly. Jooheon has to strain to hear the words coming out of his mouth. “I’m a researcher partly in charge of this exhibition. Some of these items are from my first real excavation.”

“No fucking way,” Jooheon says, so in awe that he forgets to not swear around the kids. Or around strangers, for that matter. But Changkyun smiles shyly, and Jooheon’s heart flip-flops in his chest in the most cliché way possible. _Be still_ , he begs.

“ _Fucking_ way,” the man replies cheekily. “My father is also an Egyptologist by trade so, I got an early introduction to the business.”

He’s only spoken to his new crush for about three minutes and Jooheon is already head over heels. How can someone be so interesting? The slight tan he has is probably from when he was digging by the pyramids in Egypt. And—

“Before you start thinking that I’m a lot cooler than I really am, it’s not like I have a Ph.D. or anything. I am working on it though,” Changkyun reveals, his words intricately laced with self-deprecating humor.

“I do think you are pretty cool,” Jooheon lets slip before he can stop himself, and he sounds totally fucking whipped to boot.

Changkyun bites at his lower lip and Jooheon wants to scream. But he can’t, so he screams internally instead. Before the silence stretches on for too long or Jooheon _actually_ screams, he apologizes for their super awkward first encounter earlier in the day.

“Don’t worry about it,” Changkyun says. “You never told me your name, though?”

“My name?” Jooheon has to repeat the question, just to make sure he isn’t dreaming. Why would Changkyun want to know his name, anyway? He’s nothing more than an insignificant museum visitor amongst thousands of others. “My name is Lee Jooheon.”

“Nice to meet you, Lee Jooheon,” Changkyun says with a smile. The sound of Changkyun saying his name; Jooheon wants it recorded and put on loop for all of eternity. He gets stupidly weak in the knees as Changkyun grabs his hand and shakes it, just as one of his students walk up to them. 

“Oh, you have a loose thread.” One of Changkyun’s hands travel down to Jooheon’s waist, picking the stray thread off his shirt, his other hand on Jooheon’s arm.

“You said to not touch anything,” Suji whispers loudly. Jooheon flushes all over, mouth gaping in disbelief at his student’s words.

“Suji,” he scolds breathlessly. It has little effect as said girl just giggles, eyes turning to mirthful crescents. Changkyun blinks innocently at the pair, not really grasping the situation fully.

More of the kids appear as Jooheon wills Suji to go back (so that he can talk to Changkyun in peace) but soon they’re all assembled around the two adults. Jooheon notices how Changkyun freezes up in the presence of the children and he sends him an apologetic glance, not intending to make the other uncomfortable (for the second time that day).

“Seonsaengnim, are you sure there are no mummies here?” Chansung asks.

“Yeah,” Taeho chimes in, “there’s only jars and stuff.”

“Actually, those jars were used to hold the deceased’s internal organs,” Changkyun informs them. The group of first graders become eerily quiet, and Jooheon looks at the other in surprise. “The heart was usually left in the body due to the belief that the heart was where the individual’s thoughts and feelings resided. Everything else, like the brain, was removed.”

“How did they do that?” Taeho asks reluctantly, as if he doesn’t actually want to know.

“The brain was removed by breaking it up with a tool shaped like a small rod, and then drained through the person’s nose.”

 

It’s four in the afternoon and the kids have all boarded the bus again. Choi seonsaengnim convinces Jooheon that she is perfectly capable of bringing the class back to school without his help, thanks him for today, and then boards the bus as well. He knows better than to argue and settles for waving at the kids as they drive off.

Jooheon sits on an unoccupied bench outside the museum doors and checks his phone for the bus timetable. The low sun casts a glare on the screen but he can still read that, unfortunately, he’s just missed one of his options by a few minutes. The next bus won’t be arriving for another hour. _Just my luck_ , Jooheon thinks.

Right at that moment a shadow is cast over his lap, and Jooheon looks up to find Changkyun standing there, museum-brand polo and all. He instantly sits up straighter, all his attention focused on the other as he opens his pretty mouth to speak.

“Sorry for fucking up earlier,” Changkyun says. “I’m more used to spending time with bird statues than actual people, as sad as that sounds.”

After Changkyun had shared a myriad of morbid mummy facts, the kids had begged Jooheon to leave the exhibition hall. The teacher’s aide knows that Changkyun didn’t mean for the lecture to be absolutely terrifying, but to say the least, it was.

Jooheon shakes his head. “It’s no big deal.”

“Although,” he says as an afterthought, suddenly feeling brave, “I guess you kind of owe me one. Buy me a coffee at the café on ground floor?”

Changkyun looks even more sorry now, if that’s even possible. It makes Jooheon feel bad and he kind of wishes he had kept his mouth shut, his momentary burst of confidence long gone. “Listen Jooheon, I’d love to, but I’m technically still working.”

The Egyptologist plays with his own hands nervously, muttering a silent _sorry_. But Jooheon doesn’t even mind because he can still hear him saying “I’d love to”, and it’s enough to make him forget the “but”. 

“Okay,” Jooheon affirms, heart filled with hope. 

It’s only after they’ve said their hesitant goodbyes and Changkyun had returned into the building that Jooheon realizes that he never got the other’s number. _Fuck_.

 

“Are you stalking me?” Changkyun’s deep voice startles Jooheon out of his idle browsing.

“This is a public museum and I payed money to get in like everyone else,” he says, waving his ticket and brochure at Changkyun to prove a point. Changkyun rolls his eyes at him, but not without a slight smile.

It’s a Sunday and the museum is positively crowded, the visitors packed like sardines in the various halls. The Special Exhibition gallery is no exception. The truth is that Jooheon had been thinking about the handsome Egyptologist all week and had rushed to the museum on his first day off, hoping to see him again. And here he was, just as captivating as he’d been some days prior.

Jooheon didn’t really know what he was excepting to get out of his visit; hell, he didn’t even know if the other was single or into guys. All Jooheon knew was that he definitely wanted Changkyun to be single and into guys. Preferably guys like him.

“Since you went through the trouble of coming out here on the weekend, I’ll show you around,” Changkyun converses.

“I thought you said you weren’t a guide?” Jooheon teases. Changkyun elbows him gently and motions for Jooheon to follow him across the room.

“A lot of emphasis was put on the afterlife in ancient Egypt,” Changkyun explains as they pass the impressive sarcophagi painted to resemble the deceased inside. They stop by a table encased in glass, it’s surface littered with ancient artifacts. Jooheon’s private guide points to a small, golden amulet shaped like a bird with a human head.

“The Egyptians believed that the human soul was divided into five parts; the _Ren_ , _Bâ_ , _Ib_ , _Sheut_ , and _Ka_. This amulet depicts the _Bâ,_ or personality, that what made the individual unique. Both the _Bâ_ and the _Ka_ leave the body after the person dies, rejoining in the afterlife.

“The _Ka_ is known as the vital essence, a tangible spirit double that has the same memories and feelings as its respective counterpart. In some myths the _Ka_ is able to represent the person to whom it belongs and be seen performing their actions in advance.”

Jooheon listens carefully as Changkyun talks, his knowledge and passion for the subject apparent in the way he speaks. It’s admirable as well as endearing, and Jooheon can’t help himself from smiling like a love-struck fool as he watches Changkyun out of the corner of his eye.

“And I think I saw your _Ka_ ask me out earlier?” Changkyun wonders out loud. It takes Jooheon a few seconds to understand the implications hidden within Changkyun’s question.

“You— you saw my spirit double asking you out?” Jooheon stutters, his insides suddenly ablaze; a strangely pleasant, expectant burning. Changkyun adds fuel to the fire by stepping closer, dangerously close, so close that Jooheon can feel his breath on his cheek. It’s like they’re the only ones in there with the primeval rocks and jewelry. 

“Ask me out,” Changkyun whispers in that ridiculously hot tone of his.

Jooheon’s brain rightfully short-circuits then, and all he can do is nod fervently and repeat a remixed version of what was said to him. “I’m asking you out,” he murmurs feebly, and then he says it one more time, with added conviction.

“I’m asking you out.”

Changkyun smirks at him, and it’s so attractive and such a one-eighty from the first time that they met. “I knew you didn’t come here to learn about mummy cases,” he says smoothly, like he really did know that Jooheon came to see him all along.

Maybe Jooheon’s _Ka_ had beaten him to it; maybe it had walked in there and asked Changkyun out on a date some hours before. Whatever the case, Jooheon must remember to thank his spirit doppelganger later.

**Author's Note:**

> Unbeta'd as usual, thank you for reading <3


End file.
